This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/CCC.2ACE/2946.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: You really need the Birth Certificate (I don't think the death certificate will give you his father's name although I may be wrong as I don't know if that information is on US Death certificates). To get the Birth certificate you need to know where he was born so you need to find him on the 1920 or 1930 census which will tell you where he was born and may give you his fathers name and place of birth if they were in the same household.